Grinding apparatus and method of grinding wafer

ABSTRACT

In order not to transmit an impact when grinding is started, or micro-vibrations of a grinding wheel during grinding to a wafer, a grinding apparatus at least includes: a chuck table that holds a wafer; a grinding unit having a grinding wheel configured to include a grinding wheel part that is fixed to a wheel base and grinds a wafer held on the chuck table and having a wheel mount that supports the wheel base; and a grinding unit feeding unit that brings the grinding unit dose to and away from the chuck table, wherein a vibration damping rubber having a rebound resilience of 2% to 4% standardized by ISO 4662 is provided between the wheel base and the wheel mount, whereby an impact when grinding is started, or micro-vibrations of a grinding wheel during grinding are absorbed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a grinding apparatus that grinds a wafer and a method of grinding a wafer using the grinding apparatus.

2. Prior Art

A wafer having a plurality of devices such as an integrated circuit formed on the front surface thereof is divided into individual devices by a dicing apparatus, and the devices are used for various electronic appliances.

Before the wafer is divided into individual devices, its back surface is ground to smooth the back surface, and the wafer is finished to have a desired thickness. For grinding the back surface of the wafer, the front surface side of the wafer is held on a chuck table of the grinding apparatus, and a rotating grinding wheel is brought into contact with the back surface of the wafer to apply a predetermined pressing force for grinding (for example, see JP-A-2007-222986).

However, when the rotating grinding wheel is fed for grinding and brought into contact with the wafer and the strength reaches a predetermined pressing force to start grinding, a strong impact is transmitted to the wafer at the moment of the start. In addition, during grinding, microvibrations are generated in the grinding wheel because of grinding resistance, and the wafer is finely beaten correspondingly. Therefore, due to these phenomena, a problem arises that grinding distortion such as cracks occurs in the grinding surface of the wafer to deteriorate die strength of the devices configuring the wafer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object to be solved by the invention is that in the case in which a grinding wheel is brought into contact with a wafer for grinding, an impact at the time of starting grinding caused by a grinding wheel, or microvibrations of a grinding wheel during grinding is prevented from being transmitted to the wafer.

A first aspect of the invention is a grinding apparatus at least including: a chuck table that holds a wafer, a grinding unit having a grinding wheel configured to include a grinding wheel part that is fixed to a wheel base and grinds a wafer held on the chuck table and having a wheel mount that supports the wheel base; and a grinding unit feeding unit that brings the grinding unit dose to and away from the chuck table, wherein a vibration damping rubber having a rebound resilience of 2% to 4% standardized by ISO 4662 is provided between the wheel base and the wheel mount.

A second aspect of the invention is a method of grinding a wafer in which the grinding apparatus according to the first aspect is used to grind a wafer, the method including the steps of holding a wafer on the chuck table as a back surface of the wafer is exposed; rotating the chuck table; and feeding the grinding unit for grinding by the grinding unit feeding unit while the grinding wheel is rotated, and bringing the grinding wheel into contact with the back surface of the wafer to grind the back surface.

In the method of grinding a wafer, preferably, a feed speed of the grinding unit by the grinding unit feeding unit is 0.1 μm/sec. to 15 μm/sec., a rotating speed of the chuck table is 10 rpm to 400 rpm, and a rotating speed of the grinding wheel is 1000 rpm to 7200 rpm. In the case in which on a front surface of the wafer, a plurality of devices is formed as the devices are defined by streets as dividing lines, a protective member is bonded to on the front surface and the protective member is held on the chuck table. As an exemplary wafer, a silicon wafer is named.

According to the invention, because a vibration damping rubber having a rebound resilience of 2% to 4% standardized by ISO 4662 is provided between the wheel base and the wheel mount of the grinding wheel, even though the grinding unit is fed for grinding to apply a predetermined pressing force to the wafer, the impact at this time is absorbed through the vibration damping rubber to prevent the impact from being transmitted to the wafer. In addition, because micro-vibrations caused by grinding resistance during grinding are also absorbed by the vibration damping rubber, finely beating the wafer is softened. Therefore, stripes are hardly formed on the grinding surface of the wafer to prevent die strength of the device from being deteriorated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an exemplary grinding apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a wheel mount, a vibration damping rubber and a grinding wheel configuring a grinding unit;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state in which the wheel mount, the vibration damping rubber and the grinding wheel are fixed to each other;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an exemplary wafer of a grinding subject;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the state in which a protective member is bonded to the front surface of the wafer; and

FIG. 6 is a cross section schematically showing the state before grinding the back surface of the wafer is started.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In a grinding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a wafer cassette 100 a that accommodates therein a wafer to be ground and a wafer cassette 100 b that accommodates therein a wafer after ground are mounted, respectively on cassette mounting areas 10 a and 10 b.

Near the cassette mounting areas 10 a and 10 b, a carrying unit 11 that brings a wafer in and out of the wafer cassettes 100 a and 100 b is arranged. The wafer brought out of the wafer cassette 100 a by the carrying unit 11 is placed on a positioning table 12, and the wafer is positioned at a fixed position here.

Near the positioning table 12, a first carrying unit 13 a is arranged. The first carrying unit 13 a carries the wafer positioned on the positioning table 12 to any one of three chuck tables 14 a, 14 b, and 14 c that hold the wafer. Each of the chuck tables is configured of a holding part 140 that holds the wafer, and a holding part base 141 that rotatably supports the holding part 140. In addition, these three chuck tables 14 a, 14 b, and 14 c are rotated in association with the rotation of a turntable 15.

In the grinding apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a first grinding unit feeding unit 17 and a second grinding unit feeding unit 18 are arranged on a wall 16 erected from one end of the apparatus. The first grinding unit feeding unit 17 is configured of a pair of guide rails 170 vertically arranged, a ball screw 171 arranged in parallel with the guide rails 170, a motor 172 joined to the tip end of the ball screw 171, and an elevating part 173 that is slidably engaged with the guide rails 170 and has an internal nut screwed to the ball screw 171, in which the elevating part 173 moves up and down as guided by the guide rails 170 in association with the rotation of the ball screw 171 driven by the motor 172.

The second grinding unit feeding unit 18 is configured of a pair of guide rails 180 vertically arranged, a ball screw 181 arranged in parallel with the guide rails 180, a motor 182 joined to the tip end of the ball screw 181, and an elevating part 183 that is slidably engaged with the guide rails 180 and has an internal nut screwed to the ball screw 181, in which the elevating part 183 moves up and down as guided by the guide rails 180 in association with the rotation of the ball screw 181 driven by the motor 182.

The elevating part 173 configuring the first grinding unit feeding unit 17 supports a first grinding unit 19. The first grinding unit 19 includes a spindle 200 having a vertical shaft, a spindle housing 190 that rotatably supports the spindle 200, a wheel mount 210 formed at the tip end of the spindle 200, a grinding wheel 230 supported by the wheel mount 210, and a motor 200 a that is joined to the spindle 200 to rotate the spindle 200, in which the grinding wheel 230 is also rotated as the spindle 200 is driven by the motor 200 a for rotation. The first grinding unit 19 is driven by the first grinding unit feeding unit 17, and brought close to and away from the chuck table.

The elevating part 183 configuring the second grinding unit feeding unit 18 supports a second grinding unit 20. The second grinding unit 20 includes a spindle 201 having a vertical shaft, a spindle housing 191 that rotatably supports the spindle 201, a wheel mount 211 formed at the tip end of the spindle 201, a grinding wheel 231 supported by the wheel mount 211, and a motor 201 a that is joined to the spindle 201 to rotate the spindle 201, in which the grinding wheel 231 is also rotated as the spindle 201 is driven by the motor 201 a for rotation. The second grinding unit 20 is driven by the second grinding unit feeding unit 18, and brought close to and away from the chuck table.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the first grinding unit 19 and the second grinding unit 20, the grinding wheel 230 (231) is configured in which grinding wheel parts 230 b (231 b) that grind a wafer is fixed in an arc shape to the bottom surface of a ring-shaped wheel base 230 a (231 a), and a plurality of screw holes 230 c (231 c) is formed in the wheel base 230 a (231 a). In addition, the grinding wheel part 230 b is a grinding wheel of diamond abrasive grain having a grain size of about 10 μm fixed with a resin bond and the grinding wheel part 231 b is a grinding wheel having a grain size of 1 μm or below of diamond abrasive grain fixed with a vitrified bond.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the wheel mount 210 (211), a plurality of through holes 210 a (211 a) is formed. On the wheel mount 210 (211), the grinding wheel 230 (231) is fixed and supported through a vibration damping rubber 220 (221). For example, for the vibration damping rubber 220 (221), “HANENITE” (registered trademark) provided by Kayo Corporation can be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, a screw 240 (241) is inserted into the through hole 210 a (211 a) of the wheel mount 210 (211) and the through hole 220 a (221 a) of the vibration damping rubber 220 (221), and screwed to the screw hole 230 c (231 c) of the wheel base 230 a (231 a). Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the grinding wheel 230 (231) is fixed to the wheel mount 210 (211) through the vibration damping rubber 220 (221), and the wheel mount 210 (211) supports the wheel base 230 a (231 a) through the vibration damping rubber 220 (221). In addition, the vibration damping rubber 220 (221) may be fixed to the surface of the wheel base 230 a (231 a) on which the wheel mount 210 (211) is mounted and formed in one piece with the grinding wheel 230 (231) in advance.

Next, a method of grinding a wafer will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of grinding a back surface W2 of a wafer W having a plurality of devices D formed on a front surface W1 as defined by streets S, as shown in FIG. 5, a protective member P is bonded to the front surface W1 to protect the devices, the wafer W is accommodated in the wafer cassette 100 a shown in FIG. 1 upside down, and the carrying unit 11 brings the wafer W out of the wafer cassette 100 a to place it on the positioning table 12. Then, after the wafer W is positioned at a fixed position, the first carrying unit 13 a carries the wafer W to the chuck table 14 a, for example. On the chuck table 14 a, the surface having the protective member P bonded to the wafer W is held, and the back surface W2 is exposed.

Subsequently, the turntable 15 is rotated to position the wafer W directly below the grinding wheel 230 (the position of the chuck table 14 c in FIG. 1). Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the chuck table 14 a is rotated as well as the first grinding unit 19 is fed for grinding by the first grinding unit feeding unit 17 (see FIG. 1) while the grinding wheel part 230 b is rotating in association with the rotation of the spindle 200, and the grinding wheel part 230 b is descended. The rotating grinding wheel part 230 b is brought into contact with the back surface W2 of the wafer W to grind the back surface W2. Here, for example, rough grinding is conducted.

After rough grinding is finished, the turntable 15 is rotated to position the wafer W directly below the grinding wheel 231 (the position of the chuck table 14 b in FIG. 1). Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the chuck table 14 a is rotated as well as the wheel mount 211 is fed for grinding by the second grinding unit feeding unit 18 (see FIG. 1) while the grinding wheel part 231 b is rotating in association with the rotation of the spindle 201, and the grinding wheel part 231 b is descended. The rotating grinding wheel part 231 b is brought into contact with the back surface W2 of the wafer W to grind the back surface W2. Here, finish grinding is conducted.

Because the vibration damping rubber 220 (221) is provided between the grinding wheel 230 (231) and the wheel mount 210 (211), in starting rough grinding and finish grinding, an impact when the grinding wheel part 230 b (231 b) is brought into contact with the back surface W2 of the wafer W is absorbed by the effect of the vibration damping rubber 220 (221), whereby the impact is not transmitted to the wafer W. In addition, the grinding wheel part 230 b (231 b) is brought into contact with the wafer W to generate grinding resistance to cause micro-vibrations in the grinding wheel parts 230 b (231 b). However, the microvibrations are also absorbed in the vibration damping rubber 220 (221), and hardly transmitted to the wafer W, and thus it is softened to beat the wafer W. Therefore, grinding distortion such as cracks hardly occurs in the grinding surface of the wafer W (the back surface W2), and the deterioration of the die strength of the individual devices D configuring the wafer W and the breakage can be prevented.

The wafer W thus ground is positioned near the second carrying unit 13 b by the rotation of the turntable 15 shown in FIG. 1, and carried to a cleaning unit 25 by the second carrying unit 13 b. Grinding wastes are removed here, and then the wafer W is accommodated in the wafer cassette 100 b by the carrying unit 11.

In addition, in the embodiment above, the vibration damping rubber is provided to both of the first grinding unit 19 and the second grinding unit 20. However, it may be configured to provide the vibration damping rubber to only one of them, for example, the second grinding unit 20. In addition, the grinding apparatus 1 having two grinding wheels are taken and described as an example. However, the invention can be also adapted to such apparatuses having a single grinding wheel or three or more. Moreover, the number of chuck tables may be any numbers.

EXAMPLE

As the vibration damping rubbers 220 and 221 shown in FIG. 2, a vibration damping rubber having a rebound resilience of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, and 12% standardized by ISO 4662 was provided between the wheel bases 230 and 231 and the wheel mounts 210 and 211 to grind the back surface of a silicon wafer.

In grinding, the speeds were varied in the following ranges, where the feed speed of the first grinding unit 19 and the second grinding unit 20 was in the range of 0.1 μm/sec. to 15 μm/sec., the rotating speed of the chuck table was in the range of 10 rpm to 400 rpm, and the rotating speed of the grinding wheels 230 and 231 was in the range of 1000 rpm to 7200 rpm.

In the case in which the vibration damping rubbers having rebound resilience of 6% or above were used, stripes were observed on the grinding surface of the wafer. These stripes are grinding distortion, which become the factor that deteriorates the die strength of the devices configuring the wafer. On the other hand, in the case in which the vibration damping rubbers having a rebound resilience of 2% and 4% were used, stripes were not observed particularly on the grinding surface of the wafer after ground which were caused by the second grinding unit 20. Therefore, when the rebound resilience is set from 2% to 4%, the deterioration in the transverse strength of the device can be prevented. 

1. A grinding apparatus at least comprising: a chuck table that holds a wafer; a grinding unit having a grinding wheel configured to include a grinding wheel part that is fixed to a wheel base and grinds a wafer held on the chuck table and having a wheel mount that supports the wheel base; and a grinding unit feeding unit that brings the grinding unit close to and away from the chuck table, wherein a vibration damping rubber having a rebound resilience of 2% to 4% standardized by ISO 4662 is provided between the wheel base and the wheel mount.
 2. A method of grinding a wafer in which the grinding apparatus according to claim 1 is used to grind a wafer, the method comprising the steps of: holding a wafer on the chuck table as a back surface of the wafer is exposed; rotating the chuck table; and feeding the grinding unit for grinding by the grinding unit feeding unit while the grinding wheel is rotated, and bringing the grinding wheel into contact with the back surface of the wafer to grind the back surface.
 3. The method of grinding a wafer according to claim 2, wherein a feed speed of the grinding unit by the grinding unit feeding unit is 0.1 mm/sec. to 15 mm/sec., a rotating speed of the chuck table is 10 rpm to 400 rpm, and a rotating speed of the grinding wheel is 1000 rpm to 7200 rpm.
 4. The method of grinding a wafer according to claim 2, wherein on a front surface of the wafer, a plurality of devices is formed as the devices are defined by streets, and a protective member is bonded to on the front surface, and the protective member is held on the chuck table.
 5. The method of grinding a wafer according to claim 2, wherein the wafer is a silicon wafer.
 6. The method of grinding a wafer according to claim 3, wherein the wafer is a silicon wafer.
 7. The method of grinding a wafer according to claim 4, wherein the wafer is a silicon wafer. 